Testing - Les tartelettes de Lucie

One of the many Christmas traditions my family has are my sister Lucie's butter tarts. We all love them. I asked her for the recipe because I wanted to a) just plain old have it for myself, b) try the filling with my own delicious pastry crust and c) play around with the specifics to clarify the recipe for more consistent results and, maybe, see if I can improve on an already stellar recipe. I'm thinking of the butter tarts at the JJ Bean coffee shops here in Vancouver - they are excellent, although not stellar like my sister's (I assert loyally). What I like most about them is the unusual, flaky-instead-of-crumbly crust, and the hint of cinnamon in the syrup. I found another recipe and wanted to compare the two.

2 - The new baking instructions are spot-on! No boiling-over occurred. I did notice something of importance - my Ben doesn't like raisins in his so I just omitted them from half of the dozen I made. However, because they are such little tarts, omitting 5-6 raisins reduces the level of filling considerably. If not using raisins, the recipe should be doubled.

3 - Testing replacing the corn syrup with maple syrup. I'm a little concerned that the difference is viscosity/density will be a negative factor for the substitution. Also, I will use walnuts for Ben's tarts, and raisins for mine!

The Ultimate Buttertart

makes 12 tarts

1 pastry recipe

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup corn  maple syrup

1/4 cup butter, softened (room temperature)

1 egg slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup raisins or walnuts OR half that amount in raisins and half that amount in walnuts, for both.

1. Prepare pastry. Roll out thinly on lightly floured surface. Cut into rounds with 4" cutter. Fit into medium-sized muffin cups.
2. Blind bake the crusts for about 10 minutes.
3. Combine all ingredients except raisins; stir until smooth.
4. Put raisins into pastry shells, dividing evenly.
5. Fill 2/3 full with syrup mixture.
6. Bake on bottom shelf at 425 F oven at 400F (or 375?) for 12-15 10 minutes or just until set and golden brown.
7. DON'T OVERBAKE!
8. TO TRY : Bake at 200F for 15 min, then without taking the tarts out, turn the oven to 350°F. Bake another 10-15 min, until they start to brown. This method will prevent them from boiling over.

Tu peux les faire plus petites, mais assures toi d'ajuster la temperature et le temps de cuisson.